Chapter 49: Chapter 49: Sinking the Ancient Ship
As he spoke, Kevin quickly flew the armed helicopter back to the island.
The King of the Mist Phantoms stared at Kevin, its pupils glowing red.
Thick blood-red mist poured from its tentacles, turning into hawk-shaped Mist Phantoms that chased the helicopter.
The sky filled with hawk Mist Phantoms as they took off, instantly blocking out most of the sunlight.
Nova, Celula, and Monchhichi covered their mouths and gasped as soon as they saw it.
There were easily thousands of them, more than ten times the number Kevin killed last night.
Even Luna and Amelia, who had been staying on the beach focused on making silicon blocks, sat up and turned to look at the sky.
Suddenly, the walkie-talkies on their hips buzzed non-stop, and Kevin’s voice cut through: "You two, right now, get back on the boat."
Luna frowned slightly. "What about these silicon blocks? We’re almost done."
Kevin shouted back, "Forget the silicon blocks! Staying alive is what matters! Get on the boat!"
Luna was about to protest, but Amelia grabbed her hand and nodded. "Let’s go."
The two girls immediately turned and sprinted toward the two-masted sailboat.
At the same time, Nova, Celula, and Monchhichi got Kevin’s order.
They brought Stephanie along and ran toward the sailboat almost all at once.
Just as Kevin was about to land the helicopter on the sailboat’s deck, the girls all rushed onto the bridge.
By now, the sky-full of hawk Mist Phantoms had caught up.
They locked onto him and launched their first dive attack.
Seeing this, Kevin sneered and waved his hand to summon the [Lance of Longinus] to meet them.
The Mist Phantom’s attacks didn’t really hurt Kevin.
With the [Lance of Condemnation] talent active, Kevin took over a dozen hits without backing down.
He even used the opening to stab and kill over twenty Mist Phantoms with his [Lance of Longinus].
The King of the Mist Phantoms across the water didn’t expect him to be so fierce.
It let out a loud roar. The Mist Phantoms surrounding Kevin all flew up and headed back to the old ship in the distance.
The King opened its wide mouth and sucked hard.
The Mist Phantoms that came from its body instantly turned back into red mist and flew back inside.
But because Kevin had killed twenty or thirty of them, the mist it recovered was a bit less, which made it very angry.
At the same time, Kevin stood on the sailboat’s deck and watched the Mist Phantoms retreat. He let out a quiet sigh of relief.
If he really had to face hundreds or thousands of blood Mist Phantoms alone, even if they couldn’t kill him, he’d still be worn out.
Thinking this, Kevin grinned. "Looks like that King of the Mist Phantoms has a bit of brains. It knows sending Mist Phantoms to fight me is a bad trade."
Kevin wiped the sweat from his forehead, then picked up the RPG launcher sitting on the helicopter. At the same time, he took a B-Tier Eldritch Artifact, the [Deep Ones’ Small Horn], out of his system backpack and attached it to the launcher.
As a wave of Eldritch energy pulsed, the RPG launcher, once so sleek and mechanical, got covered in thick Eldritch patterns.
Even the smooth steel surface started swelling with a bunch of weird lumps and tentacles.
Kevin stared at the weapon in his hand and muttered, "A normal RPG has a range of about a kilometer. Now, with the Eldritch Artifact boost, the force is doubled, pushing the range to at least two kilometers."
Looking up at the old sailing ship on the horizon, a small smile touched Kevin’s lips. "Let’s blow that ship up first. I really want to see if this King of the Mist Phantoms can actually swim."
With that, Kevin hopped back into the armed helicopter.
He pulled the controls, and the chopper that had just landed on the deck lifted off again, flying straight toward the distant old ship.
Up on the sailboat’s bridge, Celula’s eyes went wide when she saw Kevin actually chasing after the Mist Phantoms.
"Is the captain crazy? That monster can spit out over a thousand Mist Phantoms at once, and he’s going back after them? Does he want to die?"
Monchhichi frowned next to her.
"Why isn’t the captain meeting up with us first? We could at least figure out a plan together."
Nova noticed that Luna and Amelia were staying perfectly calm.
"Aren’t you guys worried about your captain? Him going after that monster all by himself is way too reckless."
Luna didn’t answer.
She just quietly took out bottle after bottle of Holy Spring and lined them up on the floor.
Over by her side, Amelia pulled out two bags and dropped them in front of everyone.
"Don’t worry, the captain already set up a plan. We just have to follow it."
She pulled a dorsal fin from a Fish Fiend out of the bag to show them.
"The captain told us to soak the Fish Fiend’s dorsal fins and sharp claws in Holy Spring at a one-to-one ratio. Let it sit for ten minutes. When the time comes, we drink it to get a short boost to fight the Mist Phantoms."
The girls’ eyes widened after hearing Amelia’s explanation.
Nova was still a bit confused, but she didn’t ask any more questions.
Celula and Monchhichi had used Holy Springs soaked with Eldritch Eyes before, so they knew drinking it gave a short burst of supernatural power.
Remembering that, Celula stepped forward right away.
"Amelia, what exactly does it do?"
Amelia smiled and tapped Celula’s forehead.
"It lets us summon Eldritch mist. It gives us the power to control the Eldritch energy on this scary sea for a bit, creating a mist zone."
"Once a Mist Phantom steps into that zone, its mist body gets swallowed up by it, and its power drops a lot."
Hearing that, Monchhichi’s eyes also went wide.
"If that’s true, with so many of us here, if we just make enough mist zones, can we stop that monster’s army of Mist Phantoms?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, a creepy, giggling Eldritch laugh echoed through the room.
The girls in the room all turned their heads to look at Stephanie standing in the corner.
Right then, Stephanie’s face was twisted. Her pupils were blood-red, and a thick unknown liquid was dripping from the corners of her mouth.
Her mad laughter was full of mockery. "Hahaha, it’s useless. My King’s feast has already begun. All your tricks are just you trying to stretch out your dying breath."
Seeing this, Luna and Amelia both froze where they stood.
They realized that the weird state Stephanie had been in last night wasn’t caused by a drop in Sanity.
Nova stepped forward and stared coldly at Stephanie. "Who are you, really?"
Stephanie stopped laughing and stared back at her. "Survivor, looks like you figured it out. This body’s soul got corrupted, and I’ve already taken it over.
"My King followed my lead all the way here. You’re all destined to become his food."
"Despair now. In less than three kilometers, my King’s treasure ship will be here. By then, even if you summon a million mist zones, you won’t be able to stop him."
Stephanie’s words were full of mockery and disdain.
Luna, who had been quietly mixing the potions, finally couldn’t take it anymore. She stood up, aimed her pistol at Stephanie, and said, "I’ve had enough of you. I’m putting you down right now."
Facing the dark barrel of the gun, Stephanie just laughed maniacally. "It won’t work. This is just a host. Even if you kill it, my core is still inside the King. I’m immortal. Just sit there in despair and wait for the end. Hahaha."
Just as Stephanie was laughing, the walkie-talkie on the corner of the table suddenly crackled with Kevin’s voice. "Hey, whoever’s possessing Stephanie, I’ve got a question. Can you answer me?"
Hearing Kevin speak, Stephanie’s face lit up with an excited smile. "You damn guy, it was you. You killed so many of my kind last night. Just wait. My King will rip your bones out and flay your skin."
Before Stephanie could finish, Kevin cut in. "Hold on before you go on. Just answer me this one thing. Your Mist Phantom bodies are made of mist, and mist dissolves in water. So, if you fall into the ocean, can you swim?"
Taken aback by Kevin’s serious question, Stephanie froze for a second, then let out a scoff. "We Mist Phantoms are the rulers of the sky. Even if we can’t swim, it doesn’t stop us from soaring through this sky..."
Right then, Kevin was standing in the open door of his armed helicopter, with the RPG launcher already set up on his shoulder.
After hearing Stephanie clearly admit that Mist Phantoms can’t swim, Kevin grinned. "Figures. Well, you better pray your King learns how to swim before he drowns."
As soon as he spoke, a flash of fire lit up on the horizon.
The blazing rocket flew like a shooting star, heading straight for the old ship in the distance.
A loud explosion shook the sky and sea.
Right after, an even bigger fireball exploded, blowing off half of the ship’s bow.
Seeing the blast, Kevin nodded in satisfaction.
Sure enough, attaching the FireballEnchant to the rocket made the explosion way stronger than a regular bullet.
Just one FireballEnchant rocket could almost sink a sailing ship.
Kevin quickly loaded a second rocket and taunted, "Go take a nice swim in the ocean, you piece of trash."
Another fiery meteor streaked across the sky.
